To Save Others
by gluegirl56
Summary: Missing scenes S1E4-S1E5. The moment Santiago realizes he's shot the man he's come to call his son and the moment Carolina understands that her little sister loves Nicolás.


**Alta Mar/High Seas**

To Save Others

Renewed energy and fear spurred Nicolás to run faster and tackle the stairs two steps at a time as the heavy downpour soaked through his uniform and the lightning illuminated the sky around him forebodingly. His cold fingers temporarily lost their grip on the wet metal railing as he approached the top of the last stair before he could reach the bridge wing. He cursed under his breath and hoped he wasn't too late. All he could think about was the young housemaid's words.

"_Officer. I just saw Mr. Aníbal in the corridor. I am sure he was carrying a gun."_

Now, Nicolás wasn't sure - couldn't be sure - if Aníbal de Souza were on his way to the bridge but he was willing to bet his life on it. Who else would he be so intent on threatening at this time of night and in this foul weather? Aníbal had looked anything but pleased when Nicolás had informed Fernando and his closest family about their current situation. He knew that Aníbal had invested a lot of money in the company and in restoring the luxury liner to its former glory.

If there was one thing he was sure about it was that both Fernando and Aníbal would go through a lot of trouble to get the ship across the ocean because of the influx of money and fame it would bring to them. Sadly the captain – the man he'd come to call father – was now standing between the luxury liners owner's greed for more money by turning the ship around and sail back to Spain for the sake of the passengers safety.

The thoughts whirled in his head as he stepped onto the deck and halted as he saw Aníbal bring up the gun before him to take aim at the captain through the large bridge window.

Santiago, as if feeling the presence of the other man, turned around slowly and brought up his own gun.

The stand-off was a fact and Nicolás realized with horror that neither of them would give in. Santiago especially seemed to be beyond caring about his life but Nicolás knew that the old man still cared deeply for others. The captain missed his wife terribly and for a while Nicolás had feared the captain would take his own life to join her but then it seemed he'd come to his senses and gathered his wits. Being the prominent captain that he was Fernando Fábregas had offered him the posting as captain of the _Barbara de Braganza_ – an offer he couldn't refuse. However, he'd insisted on bringing his most trusted officers with him; Nicolás and Pierre.

Nicolás swallowed, his mouth dry. He had to prevent this somehow, he had to save the man whom he owed so much. Without thinking it through properly the first officer lunged at de Souza intent on stopping him before it was too late – only - for him it was already far too late.

He managed to wrestle the gun from Aníbal's hand just as the window behind them shattered with an awful bang that would have echoed across the ship had it not been hidden behind a spark of light and a crackle that thundered so loud it seemed to vibrate off the hull of the ship.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. Nicolás immediately let go of Aníbal as something hit him and forced him backwards. A raging white hot pain erupted from somewhere inside his ribcage and spread like a wild flower across his left side, he gritted his teeth as he felt his legs buckle and he collapsed to the deck. A cacophony of voices around him slowly faded away to nothingness as he started to drift in and out of consciousness.

Santiago Aguirre stiffened, half frozen in shock, as he stared at the still form on the other side of the window where a pool of blood had begun to form beneath the young man lying on the wet deck. He stared from Nicolás to the gun in his hand as if realizing for the first time what he'd done and he recoiled at the thought that he had killed the man who'd become like a son to him. The captain threw the weapon away, it clattered to the deck and remained there, no one dared to touch it.

Pierre took a step toward it but suddenly thought better of it.

"No, no," the captain mumbled with despair as he backed away from the window and fled the room. "Nicolás."

The second officer stared after his superior officer with a dumbfounded expression on his wet face. He took a quivering breath and forced himself to look before him, at the still form on the deck outside the bridge window. The situation was so surreal that he had a hard time to really comprehend what had just happened. He shook out of his stupor and ran a hand over his forehead and then gently gripped the short mop of black curls in desperation. "Someone fetch a new glass to the window immediately!" he shouted. "We have to keep the bridge dry."

"Yes, sir," two crewmen chorused and set off at a run.

A gust of wind so cold it felt like snow forced its way into the usually warm and comfortable compartment. Pierre raised the collar on his damp uniform and tightened it around his neck as he shuddered. He made his way over to the center of the bridge and forced the levers to full stop in order to hold the large ship and in position.

"What the hell happened?!" Fernando demanded as he appeared at the top of the stair with Varela on his tail. He rushed to the first officer's side and saw his sister's husband a bit further away trying to distance himself from the scene. "Aníbal!" he shouted angrily.

Oblivious to what was going on around him Santiago gently placed his hands on Nicolás' shoulders and shook the young man vigorously as if the action in itself could bring him back to the land of the living.

Varela wasted no time in casting the blame, he glared at the captain and nodded toward two of his men to bring the man to his feet while he handcuffed him. "Did you shoot this man?" he questioned.

Santiago shook his head. "Get off me you idiot," he said angrily with a glare directed at the detective.

Varela responded by taking a step closer to the now soaked man before him, leveling his eyes with his. "You are under arrest, captain," he said in low voice that left no room for discussion."

"Mr. Fábregas, sir!" A sailor acknowledged seriously. "First Officer Vázquez tried to stop Mr. de Souza from killing our captain."

"I see," Fernando muttered angrily as he tried to get a grip of the situation at hand. "Instead he ended up saving Mr. de Souza from being killed by the captain."

He watched Detective Varela grab Captain Aguirre's arm and force him away from the scene as Aníbal reached a door further away and disappeared from sight.

The second officer tried to bring order to chaos as two men appeared with what appeared to be a new glass for the broken window.

Fernando pursed his lips into a thin line of displeasure at the pool of blood beneath the first officer – the man who'd saved his wife's sisters life only a day before. "Quickly! Find a stretcher and get him downstairs to the infirmary. Make sure that the doctor is there when he arrives!" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" a sailor acknowledged and quickly ran ahead as two others arrived with a stretcher and gently lifted their superior officer onto it.

Fernando sighed wearily as he ran a hand through his hair. He knew that Eva liked the young man's company. He'd seen the two of them together many times over the last few days. How was he to tell her he didn't even know if Nicolás would survive the next hour? He dreaded the conversation as he began to make his way down to the first class cabins.

OOOOOO

Eva sat down at her desk. She was still furious and disappointed at her sister even though the shock of seeing a supposedly dead woman had begun to subside. Carolina had always trusted her before – well, except for the one time when Eva had accused Fernando of being a gambler – why would she keep something as important as this from her?

To her surprise she found herself missing Nicolás company – her new confidant and,- she stopped herself right there. The kiss that had blown her mind away was still fresh in her memory. It was strange how easy it was to interact with him, how he made her feel safe. He had awoken some long lost desire in her that both troubled her and charmed her. A faint smile began to manifest itself on her red lips as she imagined his reaction to the latest news.

"Eva, what are you doing?" Carolina's voice filtered through the happy memories as she began to type.

"I have what you want," she read aloud. "Tomorrow night on, - Where should we meet him?"

"It could be dangerous," Carolina pointed out seriously.

"On the promenade," Louisa suggested. "It's a discreet place."

"Louisa," Carolina called, not liking what was in the makings.

"It's the only way to find out the truth," the supposedly dead woman insisted. "If your uncle comes we know he doesn't have the microfilm."

Her mind still reeling from everything that had happened lately Eva quickly wrote down the location on the sheet of paper before she snatched it from the typewriter. "We'll slip it under his door when he's not there," she said simply.

Carolina was about to protest when a sharp and rapid knock on their cabin door caused her to jump. She turned to Louisa and motioned for her to come with her. "Quick, hide in the bathroom!" She willed for the woman to move faster as she pointed her in the right direction. "Over there."

Surprised at the intrusion at this late hour Eva began to walk toward the door, secretly hoping it would be Nicolás on the other side. She wanted to tell him everything.

To her credit she managed not to show her disappointment as Fernando walked into the room instead of Nicolás.

Carolina swallowed as she raised a hand to her chin. She didn't like to keep things from her future husband but she didn't know how to get out of this situation if she didn't keep quiet. Her worry about Fernando finding out what they were doing turned into confusion as he without preamble turned to her little sister.

"Eva, something has happened," he began slowly.

Carolina easily saw his discomfort and quickly realized something was wrong – very wrong. He was the bearer of bad news.

"What is it?" Eva asked as she was both confused and interested in what had brought Fernando to them in such a rush. However, she wasn't prepared for his answer.

"It's Nicolás," he said seriously.

The look on his face caused a tight knot to form in the pit of her stomach. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She wanted to ask things like how, what, when but she failed miserably. It was Carolina who finally managed to ask.

Fernando looked away for a moment. "He's,-" he hesitated. "He's been shot."

Eva suddenly felt her legs turn to jelly but managed to remain upright. "No," she whispered.

"Fernando," Carolina pleaded. "What's been going on?"

He opened his mouth to respond but Eva beat him to it.

"Where is he?" she demanded, her voice stronger. "Fernando where is he?"

"Infirmary," he replied.

Eva quickly pushed past him and out into the corridor, Uncle Pedro, Louisa and everything else temporarily forgotten. The only thing that mattered to her at the moment was to be with Nicolás.

"Eva!" Carolina called after her. "Eva wait!"

"There was some kind of a stand-off between the captain and Aníbal," Fernando explained. "Apparently Nicolás got in the way."

Carolina looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and despair as she began to walk away from him to catch up with her little sister. She halted in mid-step a bit further down the corridor and turned toward her husband to be. "Is he alive?" she managed, dreading the answer.

To Carolina's immediate relief Fernando nodded but his expression was solemn and seemed to hold little hope. "It's not looking good, Carolina," he said.

Tears began to form in her eyes as she left her husband behind and set off after Eva. Her little sister needed someone in her life too and she'd seen the way Eva looked at Nicolás. Carolina feared that if Eva lost him now it would steal away a part of her sister's heart.

Rounding a corner she saw Eva staring at the door to the infirmary, a nervous and troubled look on her beautiful face. Carolina reached out for her, ready to pull her into a hug as the door opened and a nurse stumbled out.

"What's going on?" Eva demanded.

"I feel very sick," she said, her eyes glassy. "The doctor needs help, please."

Before Carolina knew it Eva had set a brisk pace toward the room.

"Eva," she begged. Her little sister couldn't just barge in like this.

Carolina followed and halted mid-step inside the semi-lit room to stare at _Barbara de Braganza's_ first officer, his white shirt cut open to reveal an angry looking gunshot wound on his left side. Carolina shuddered as blood gushed out from it and noticed Eva's light touch when she gently caressed Nicolás' cheek.

It was there and then she realized that her little sister was deeply in love with the ghostly pale man lying on the operating table in front of them and Carolina desperately hoped, for the sake of her sister, that Nicolás would be all right.


End file.
